Need a reason not to bet on college football?
Examine the strategies of both head coaches in No. 1 Florida's 23-13 victory over Tennessee on Saturday in Gainesville, Fla.
With the Gators a 30--point favorite, who would have predicted Florida's Urban Meyer and Tennessee's Lane Kiffin playing it so close to the vest?
Both coaches obviously felt their defense could play well enough to win the game (in Florida's case) or keep it competitive (in Tennessee's).
Kiffin's conservative game plan, which would have gotten previous coach Phillip Fulmer fried by his critics, had a two-fold purpose -- take time off the clock and call low-risk pass plays for interception-prone UT quarterback Jonathan Crompton.
"That team is much deeper than we are," Kiffin said. "I think if we get into a track race with them, we look like a lot of other people do when they come in here. We get blown out of the stadium.
"I purposely sent in plays slower than usual. I didn't tell my team I was going to do that. But I wanted to take time off the clock. It's very hard and it's difficult (to call a game that conservative) but I was hired to win here. I wasn't hired for stats."
Florida is loaded with weapons, yet in the second half it appeared to be running a front-yard pickup-game offense: Snap the ball to the biggest kid (Tim Tebow) and let him carry defenders on his back as Tebow finished with 76 yards on 24 carries.
Meyer admitted he called the game too conservatively. But he felt Kiffin wasn't trying to win with his play calling, so Meyer did not want to give away a victory with turnovers off risky plays.
"When I saw them start handing the ball off, you didn't feel like they were going after the win," Meyer said. "I remember looking up there and there's 10 minutes left in the game and there's no no-huddle (offense for the Vols). They're down by 23-6 and the urgency (wasn't there).
"The way we lose a game there is throw an interception, so let's find a way to win the game. We're not trying to impress the pollsters. We're trying to win the game."
QUICK SLANTS
Arkansas, which lost a 52-41 SEC shootout at home to Georgia this past weekend, might be thankful to be on the road at Alabama Saturday. The Hogs have lost their last four SEC games at Razorback Stadium, since a 48-36 victory over South Carolina on Nov. 3, 2007. Arkansas has won league games over Mississippi State and LSU in Little Rock in that span, and has road wins at LSU and Auburn in that stretch. ... Alabama receiver Julio Jones missed Saturday's 53-7 beatdown of North Texas because of a bruised kneecap on the first series of the win over Florida International on Sept. 12. Tide coach Nick Saban expects Jones to be ready for Arkansas. ... Georgia has allowed 37 or more points in six of its last eight regular-season games, and has won four of those. Arkansas scored the most points ever by a Georgia opponent in a regulation loss. Georgia has won its first two SEC games for the first time since 2006, yet is last in the SEC in scoring defense, total defense and pass defense. "In league play, I didn't really think that would happen," said Georgia coach Mark Richt ... How do you overcome allowing 509 yards total offense? You create six turnovers, including four in the fourth quarter, as unbeaten Auburn did in its 41-30 rain-soaked victory over West Virginia. "It's hard to get four turnovers in any game, much less in one quarter," Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. "They weren't your ordinary-type turnovers. Guys had to make plays to get them. That's something that we stress, that turnovers are turning points in games." ... Washington's 16-13 upset of No. 3 USC made LSU's defense feel better about itself. When LSU won its season opener at Washington, 31-23, on Sept. 5, the Tigers allowed more yards than in any game last season. "A lot of people thought we played badly when we played them," LSU linebacker Perry Riley said of Washington. Since that game, the Tigers have allowed just 12 points, including their 31-3 win over Louisiana Lafayette on Saturday.
(Ron Higgins writes for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.)
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